Originally posted in September:
Before you ask, the above photo is utterly pointless and unrelated to this post. Just saying before you begin to ponder cute little evil squirrels dressed up like FBI agents and the meaning of life.
I just wanted a photo, okay?
Now, to return to seriousity and trying to remember what this post is about.
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the prominency of writing posts on beginnings/first lines and the lack of posts on endings/end sentences? If you remember, I did a post a few weeks back on first lines. Today? End lines/endings.
First off, stop with the cliche endings. Wow me. Lead me in one direction and give me a twist that will blow my mind. Something I won't expect. Especially with a series. End with the world's best cliffhanger. If any of you've watchedFringe, they did this excellently. The end of season one, without saying anything too revealing for those of you who haven't seen it, took the main character and made you think you knew where she was. Even made the main characterthink she knew where she was. When the elevator reached it's destination, she finds herself meeting a character who hasn't been seen but's been mentioned as "gone" the whole time, and realizes that she's not where she belongs.
Okay, maybe that example's a little too vague without a good, spoiling description.
Good last lines are important, too. Here's the part where I'd give you the last line from that Fringe ending, but I honestly don't remember. "There's more than one of everything" maybe? So, instead, I'm going to bring out The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Those are both pretty well known and most everybody's read them.
End line of the first? *SPOILER BEGINS* "I am Thalia, daughter of Zeus." *SPOILER ENDS* Game changer. Isn't she supposed to be dead/a tree?
And the latter? *SPOILER BEGINS* "Katniss, there is no District 12." *SPOILER ENDS* This is where my jaw drops. It can't be gone! Obliterated!
A good end line that will leave me hanging, or change everything I know in a single sentence? DO IT. Make me question everything I thought I knew to be true.
Once again, I'm going to bring Fringe into this because it's such a great example of this. End of season three? Just to warn you, there may be some spoilers here, but I'll try to keep it tame. The world is saved, it's looking like a happy ending. The main character didn't die and realized something that changes things. He enters the room, trying to tell everyone what he learned. No one seems to notice him. Suddenly, he vanishes, no one seeming to have seen. Outside the building the Observers (long story, but they're these creepy guys who seem to know everything) talk about him and end the season with something along the lines of, "He never existed."
My reaction? WHAT IN THE NOT-SO-WELL-KNOWN-KINGDOM HAPPENED HERE? I was dying for season four. They actually made me wait. Un-patiently, of course.
Okay, this post is starting to get a bit long, so I may continue more on this topic later on in the not-so-distant future. All I have to say? Don't end lame, and when I say to make me question everything I know? That doesn't mean you end the book with, "And then a horse ate the world. The end."
-Silence
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